Telephone switchboard apparatus



B. FREILE.

TELEPHONE SWITCHBOARD APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.30,1920.

Patented July 25, 1922.

UNITED STATES APartiti? ortica.

BRUCE FREILE, OF BOGOTA, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COM- PANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TELEPHONE SWITCHBOARI) APPARATUS.

specifwation of Letters Patent.

, Patented July 25, 1922.

Application filed August 30, 1920. iSeriaI No. 406,982.

To all to /wm t may concern.'

ot New Ierse have invented certa-n 119W and 'useful improvements in Telephone Switchboard Apparatus, of which the -following` is a full, clear, concise, and exact description. This invention relates in general to telephone switchboard apparatus. The invention provides a unit strip for an operators checking multiple.4 p l Checking multiples are used at toll offices in automatic telephone systems and are pro-- vided to enable the toll operator to check the correctness of a subscribersl statement regarding the number of the station trom which he is calling. vWhen such systems are used, it is customary to have terminals for all lines accessible to each operator. Under these conditions it is essential that they occupy as little space as possible and that the terminals be multipled through a number oi sections of the board. Y f

The method oi' testing in such `a system is similar to the busy test of a. manual switchboard where the busy condition of a line is indicated by a tone in the operators receiver upon touching the tip of a plug to the jack sleeve of a busy line. The system by which this is accomplished is described in detail in application Seria-1 No. 285,411 liled Mar. 27,1919, and being no part of this invention will not be further described herein.

The object of this invention is to provide an arrangement of suchtest terminals which shall be inexpensive, compact, and convenient.

The invention in its preferred form consists of a plurality ci bars of conductive material arranged in a number of horizontal rows and held in this position by insulating material, preferably phenol condensation product or similar substance, moulded about the bars, to form a block in form somewhat resembling a jack strip. The bars are exposed on the face of the block and extend through the rear l'or connection with the circuit wiring. Grooves cut on the face of the block and across the face of the bars serve as a guide for an operators plug tip and also as a means for retaining coloring vertical rows.

matter to indicate to the opera-tor tral'c conditions obtaining on certain lines, such as for example service denied, limited service, official lines and the like.

p A clearer understanding of the inveiit-ion may be `had by reference to the drawings which showmits' preferred form. Fig. Vl shows .a front view with an operators plug in testing position on a line testing terminal. Fig.' 2 shows a cross sectional view taken along the ,plane indicated in Fig. l by the line 2--2. In F ig. 2, portions oione oi' the `terminal bars are out away to show details f of its interior form.

A suitable number of terminal rods l are arranged so as to form both horizontal and About the terminal rods l is moulded ama'ss of insulating material, preferably hard rubber, phenol condensation product or the like, to form a rectangular block 2, having the shoulders 8 to serve as a means to support the block 2 between the vertical stiles oiY a switchboard trame. A block is thus formed. which is adapted to be mounted in a switchboard in the same manner as a strip of jacks in a manual system. Eachl of the terminal rods l is provided with a ring cut 1]. which cooperates with the moulded material of the block 2 to prevent any possible slipping out of position in the block. A hole 10 is drilled along the axis of the terminal rods l to assist in centering and setting them up preparatory to moulding the block 2.

At the front of the block 2, the terminal rods l are exposed so that an electrical contact maybe made with the tip of an oper ators plug 4 with any one of such terminals. For the purposeL of making it more convenient to find any particular one of the terminals 1 with the plug 4. grooves 5 are out in the face of the block 2, crossing the face of the terminals 1. In this way the operator, after locating the horizontal row in which the line terminal is located, may guide the testing plug 4 along the proper one of the horizontal grooves 5 until she has located the desired terminal.

The grooves cut in the faces of the conductive bars l are slightly narrower than the grooves 5 in the block 2. In this way the plug tip in passing a contact face is certain to make contact.

suitable elertrical wire ronnections.

is shown in the drawing. there are one hundred terminals groupeil in the block 2. there beine' live rows ot twenty terminals. This provioes a compact arrangement, convenient not onlj-f to install. but also to operate. lcloweveri should a greater number ot such terminals be iflesired in a single strip or block7 the)7 ma'Y be so rearranged without departing from the invention.

An additional groove 8 is provided at the top oli' the block 2 which is adapted to be lilled with paint or other coloring matter tor the purpose ot marking out the terminals into groups ol hundreds so as to 'further assist an operator to .lind theiproper terminal. For a similar purpose are provided the markingl means S) which consists oi a series oi small holes bored in the tace of the block 2 and filled with bright colored pigment. These are placed at intervals ot five terminals.

The grooves 5, in addition to their use as guides, are also adapted to hold coloring matter showing the character of the line to which the)Y are adjacent, such as party line,7 denied service, coin bei,7 prinvate branch exehange7 and the like.

lVhat l claim is:

l.. A test block comprising a pluralit)7 of parallel rows oit conductive hars placed side by side. each conductive bar terminating at one end in grooved contact tace, and at the other end terminating in a lug adapted to receive conductor wiring; and. a block ot insulating material in which said bars are insuiatinglxv imbedded, said block beingpron vifVN l with a groove 'for each row oit condiuytive bars7 said `groove registering with the grooves in the contact iaces ofi the said conductive bars in each such row.

A test block comprising` a plurality oit parallel ro Ws of conductive bars placed side by side, each conductive bar terminating at one end in a grooveil contact tace and at the other end terminating in a lug adapted to receive conductor wiring; and a block of insulating` material in which said bars are insulatingl)v imbedderfl. said block heilig provided with a groove tor each. row of conductive hars7 said groove being wider than the groove in the contact faces of the conductive bars and narrower than the Contact face oi the conductive bars and registering with the grooves in the contact faces of said conductive bars in each such row.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 23rd dayv ot August, A. D.

BRUCE FREILE. 

